The ministry issued a circular to this connection as Nepal is soon holding trade talks with China.[break] The focus of the talks scheduled to be held in Beijing will revolve mainly around eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers and putting in place special trade facilitation arrangements for exports from Nepal.
"Hence, we need a proper list of potential items that manufacturers and traders from eastern part of country can export to China," said Commerce Secretary Purushottam Ojha.
Addressing an interaction on Friday evening, secretary Ojha also informed the entrepreneurs about the recent agreement that the two countries signed. Going by this agreement, 4,721 commodities produced in Nepal now enjoy zero-duty entry facility in China.
He suggested to them to increase investment and raise production capacity for the items that enjoy the special entry facility so that Nepal could effectively boost its exports and bridge the burgeoning trade deficit with the northern trading partner.
At present, Nepal´s exports to China stand at around Rs 1 billion, whereas it imports well over Rs 34 billion worth of goods from China.
Officials at the ministry had also noted that the country would need to seriously address its physical infrastructure gaps for taking meaningful benefits from special market access facility.
"Unless we have highways linking north and south, it will be really difficult to benefit from the facility," said Ojha.
Entrepreneurs, meanwhile, had urged the government to construct a Biratnagar-Kimathanka highway as soon as possible. The highway has been identified as the shortest and only viable route connecting Morang-Sunsari industrial corridor with China. However, the construction is at snail pace.
The officials and entrepreneurs also discussed problems faced in trade under South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA).
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